JJ McCarthy reveals reasoning behind Michigan using pink towels during road win over Iowa
JJ McCarthy and Michigan were not worried about the intimidation factor at Iowa.
Former Hawkeye head coach Hayden Fry, who had a psychology degree from Baylor, surmised that a pink visitor’s locker room would give Iowa a psychological advantage. After having read that pink has a calming effect on people, Fry had the staff paint the room pink. Staff painted pink walls and put in pink lockers, pink urinals, pink sinks, and pink carpets.
Fry’s pink plan backfired on Saturday as No. 4 Michigan embraced the use of the color, and used it against Iowa as the Wolverines rolled to a 27-14 victory in Kinnick Stadium.
The Wolverines used pink towels on the sideline during the game to demonstrate they were unfazed by the locker room color. DE Mike Morris, who recorded 2 sacks in the game, said that he “liked” the color. McCarthy went even further, saying the use of the towels helped set the tone for the game.
According to McCarthy, use of the towels was to let the Hawkeyes know “we don’t care.”
Asked J.J. McCarthy about the tone they were setting waving pink towels on the sideline (Iowa visitor locker rooms are famously pink): "Let ‘em know that we don't care. The pink locker room? Bring it right out to the field, doesn't matter. It didn't faze us."
— angelique (@chengelis) October 1, 2022